NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said regular-season overtime and the playoff format will not be seeing any changes.
Bettman also announced that no rule changes were proposed during this week's general managers meetings.
An extension to the length of overtime in the regular season was thought to be under consideration after the NHL experimented with a 10-minute three-on-three format during the 4 Nations Face-Off. However, Bettman said he prefers the current five-minute format.
"I'm not a fan of the extended overtime because of ice conditions and the wear and tear on the players who would be playing the additional five minutes," Bettman said while speaking Wednesday in Florida.
As for the playoff format, there have been some concerns about the current setup, which sees each division winner play a wild-card team while the second- and third-place teams in each division clash in Round 1. This season, Stanley Cup contenders Toronto and Tampa Bay, and Colorado and Dallas are on a collision course in the first round, meaning two of those teams could be eliminated early.
But Bettman disagreed with critics of the format, saying that the current setup means the playoffs are exciting from beginning to end.
"I'm pretty dug in on this, I like exactly what we have and if you look at the races that we're having for the regular season, playoffs have started already. We're in our play-in tournament, " Bettman said, in reference to the NBA's addition of extra games to determine the final playoff teams. "Best team to win the Cup has got to get through the best teams. And having great matchups in the first rounds, that's not a problem, that's a great thing."
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